PerreaultForever

But not Reinhart. 🙂

Thing I have for Thompson is he's really a gentle giant. He might endure some of it, but he'd be better off to initiate more of it. Dahlin's learned that to some extent. As a constant target he's learned it's better to hit than be hit, even if it leads to a scrum. Power's still a kid. Let him grow into it. I'm not saying he will become a tank like McAvoy seems to be but he might become more than physical enough. Best to pair him with somebody to take on more of that.

It is. Looked like the refs wanted it to be 2-2 though. I suspect it goes 7 .

Careful with guarantees, but I hope you are right.

cause that's not who they are or how they play. There's a few players who would maybe hit more, but as a whole the team we currently have would not withstand this stuff. We'd fall fast against physicality the same way Tampa did before they beefed up with Maroon etc.

Thompson fought Chara? I don't remember that. He took on Miller once which was brave. Maybe I'd consider the Sabres tough if they still had Ullmark 🙂 (if you weren't watching Ullmark ready to take on Tkachuk end of the Bruins game only stopped by the refs who then made a bizarre call favoring Florida but Ullmark has big ones)

That's not the point though. The point is would this Sabres team be able to withstand this sort of hockey? I say no.

Oh nobody's collecting sticks. Not that extreme. But I think you get the point. The original comment I was responding to was claiming our leaders would be all in and although we sometimes push and shove back we aren't exactly physical. I don't think we are totally soft any more, but we're definitely not tough enough for this type of hockey.

Just as a point to that I googled and we averaged 14 hits per game. Tampa and Toronto are throwing around 40 plus to 50 per game.

Oh just stop with the 80s/90s nonsense. You watching the games right now? 2023. The amount of hitting in these games is far beyond anything these Sabres have ever had to face. Their hearts might be in the right place but the team around them is far less than even what Toronto has so I doubt they'd be any different from Matthews (who did drop them with Stamkos after all).

Debatable. Canes are simply too fast and too good for them. Their shutdown game falls apart with this type of pressure. Canes can be relentless at times. This series is basically over.

Not really disagreeing. To the first bolded sentence, that is my main point of contention. Everybody knows what this team needs and what the weak spots are. He could have tried a little more to fill them. Also, the holes are still there (although all hope in Levi may (maybe) fill one). Will he fill them? Doesn't sound like it. Girgs and Okposo back? So, basically the same team with Levi is the plan. Wonderful. Just wonderful (full on sarcasm there to make the point explicit) idk if he is "afraid" to say playoffs, but not saying that making the playoffs next year is the goal is a slap in the face for fans and makes the approach way too slow. Team is ready. Guys like Cozens want to be there. We keep this up and any number of them might lose their love for hockey and no longer want to be here. Yes, Rochester made the playoffs. I don't watch them, but what I'm reading makes it sound like they are not building a team there that can play in the playoffs which means that the Sabres won't be a team that can play in the playoffs if they ever make it. I mean you're all watching it. Anyone think this Sabres team would hold up to playoff hockey? I don't think so. Not as it is. It was a disappointing presser.

That's part of the culture/identity. What do you want? Hendrix? Seattle's had a crap PP all year and it's sinking them now. Pretty good effort for 2 periods but the big guns for Colorado are the big guns. and of course E-Rod 😉

More this year than the start of last year I think. Road teams all won so far today. I wondered that same thing.

OT Rangers and NJ now.

Ya, all those people claiming refs don't want a Canadian team to win clearly don't watch Leaf games. Tampa's getting really banged up.

Figures Schiefele would score a goal and start playing better right after I posted that he was sucking. I'm going to have to try that during Sabres games next year when somebody hasn't scored. OT hockey is the best hockey entertainment there is.

It can be, but I think you also have to look at it from the reporter's side. Way back in the 70s and 80s players used to get to be individuals and they used to speak off the cuff, unfiltered and sometimes say dumb things. Easy questions could get good answers that made for good stories in the morning paper. Nowadays it's all stock answers and rehearsed comments and reporters are left with nothing to write about so some of them goad and jab and try to illicit something/anything out of the ordinary. I get how hard that job has now become. Let's face it, these days ChatGPT could just do both sides.

Whining about refs, you sound like an Oilers fan 🙂 Winnipeg games are weird. I know that sea of white started way back with the original team but back then the home jersey was white, now it's blue. Vegas is the "white" team. I also know they made it a "white out" "snow storm" but it still looks dumb. Winnipeg is not losing because of refs. They are losing because Morrisey is out and Schiefele is sucking and Hellybuck isn't good either.

No conclusive evidence it hit the stick.

Really? I don't see that. Playoffs are always like this. The one difference this year is how quick they are handing out 10 minute misconducts as a way to try to avoid late game shenanigans. Don't like that at all. Speaking of hits, Marcus Foligno was a force in the Minnesota game. Aside from Kreuger, that trade might be JBot's biggest mistake.

Is this accurate and indicative of how they play? I ask because it plays into my fear of how and what Adams is building in Buffalo.

He is on the record crediting goaltender coach Bob Essensa with changing and thus improving aspects of his game. His rebound control was excellent tonight aside from the whistle goal. Bruins played textbook shutdown hockey tonight. Taking Krejci out was a solid move. Hall was actually good for a change.